. . .

Zelda

Not a single cloud dared to cross the sky today. The sun burned as high and bright as the kingdom itself, bathing the land in its lively rays. Only the fluttering of the leaves in distant trees made itself known in sound, hushed in the presence of the notably small approaching family, the silence of the land in perfect unison with the vast assemblage of soldiers that stood in a sea of stillness.

A soft set of footsteps whispered against the tranquility of the morning. A velvet, pale blue skirt swept across the stone. Gentle heat stretched out the air as a pair of clammy and shaky hands folded over each other. Sixteen-year-old Princess Zelda Hyrule stood peering over the castle wall at the silver-armored rows of soldiers that stood obediently below. The sun glinted off from their smooth helmets and Zelda stifled a shudder at such a population. On any other day, she would have felt completely secure in their guarding, as if a wall had been built around her and the idea of falling to injury was out of the question. Not today. Today was different. Zelda struggled to shake the bitter weight of danger from her shoulders, even behind a hundred soldiers that wouldn't have hesitated to sacrifice their lives for her safety, even if it was just out of the corner of her eye where she could never quite grasp the full picture.

The sound of heavy, leisurely-paced footsteps approaching from behind clicked in Zelda's ears, ushering her to the side to allow their owner to pass. After stepping to the side, she raised her head to find that it was her own father that had taken his place beside her after guiding her to the place, sweeping a thoughtful gaze across the soldiers below. Zelda's father, King Rhoam, was a tall, broad-shouldered old man dressed in royal and elegant blue robes with a thick white beard running down the front. Rhoam was the diligent and undefeated king of Hyrule, and quite a stern one at that, as Zelda had witnessed firsthand frequently. Today, expectedly, he wore a grim expression on his weary face as he frowned over the block of soldiers. The news he brought to deliver was far less than pleasant.

A smooth wave of movement fell upon the soldiers almost instantly after the king emerged out onto the platform. Clattering steel echoed through the space as they all dropped swiftly to their knee, bowing before the royal family. A shine from the sun above shot across the top surfaces of the helmets as movement stilled. Quietly, Rhoam put out his hand as if to encourage the silence that had already reoccurred, holding the moment still as Zelda waited wordlessly for the news that would soon be brought to the light. A hint of a sunny breeze crept through in the bleak anticipation, fiddling with the ends of her yellow-blonde hair as it hung down around her waist while she stood at the side of her father. It wasn't too much of a reassuring presence at the moment.

"Rise," Rhoam commanded.

The soldiers obeyed without even a subtle reluctance. The clattering struck for a second time as a hundred heads bobbed up to full height in nearly perfect unison, resuming their original positions once more. Rhoam withdrew his hand again, appearing satisfied with the complete obedience, and folded one over the other like Zelda was doing as he took another cold scan of the crowd. Seconds later, again his voice boomed across the area.

"The threat of the Calamity approaches nearer and nearer with every passing day," Rhoam declared. "Every minute we spend preparing ourselves brings us closer to a war far greater than Hyrule has ever seen. If we fail to gather our resources and summon every ounce of our strength we have within us towards this overbearing catastrophe, I worry about the state that this kingdom will be left in. However we utilize the time we have left, a number of days that are completely and utterly unknown, we must do everything in our power to stop this from coming to pass. In the end, we must defeat Calamity Ganon and reign victorious against the darkness."

Zelda's stomach soured at the name. She had picked up on it too many times to question its weight. Calamity Ganon was a purely malevolent being lacking any and all emotions with hardly a soul and a firm devotion to a single mission to destroy everything in its path. Zelda decided herself immensely lucky to have not witnessed such consequences through her own eyes, but as the Hyrule prophecy read, the Calamity would strike at the kingdom's weakest moment and mercilessly tear down the kingdom to ruins. Such a danger felt foreign and surreal, but Zelda knew better than to think it untrue. Somewhere out there, far beyond the barriers of her home, a nightmarish being lurked in the darkness that could have quite possibly snapped her life right out of existence with nothing more than a blink of an eye. And would, if the prophecy held true.

What was keeping Zelda most at ease in the vastness of uncertainty in the future was the knowledge that there were still things to be done in order to prevent it—A knowledge that the king held faith in as well, given the opening to his declaration. But Zelda and her father were still at odds in determining which steps to proceed with. Zelda clung to the notion that a proper choice could only have been made after a hefty intake of information and research to weigh the topic and careful consideration towards the approach. Her father, however, had told her on multiple occasions that she was wasting her time on frivolous nonsense and urged her focus in the direction of something that she already had all this time, at least in theory.

Zelda's own name was not excluded in the prophecy of Hyrule's feared fall. At some point before the Calamity would strike, a power of light was stated to awaken within her to seal the darkness. This, currently, was more of a problem than a solution. Ever since she'd begun to become informed of such possibility over a year previously, she hadn't stumbled upon even the most subtle signs that it was there at all, much less an awakening. As her father went on to address the soldiers below, Zelda allowed her gaze to travel across the palms of her hands, wondering if there was something she was doing incorrectly that led to a blockage of some sort.

"We will stand together as one and overcome this challenge," Rhoam announced. "We have the courage that our ancestors would admire. We have the ability to develop technology one could hardly dream of. We will all have our roles to play when that time arrives that we must fulfill today. With the risk that is waiting to be brought about, our only option is to ready ourselves to make any and all sacrifices to defend this land of Hyrule."

Images of ruin and decay plagued Zelda's mind. In the way it was described, once Calamity Ganon would find a way through the gates, the death and destruction it would leave behind would tell enough of the story of devastation that had occurred. It was easy to suppress a thought of a situation that wasn't directly in front of her, but the time for denial had run out.

"Each and every one of you has been selected to defend this land," Rhoam declared. "I expect you to carry out that duty until the very end. You are my soldiers and I am your king. Your responsibility under my command is crucial and must be executed to its fullest extent. Every action you make must be in protection of this land during these perilous times. We shall know no defeat or withdraw in the face of the danger that awaits us. Come the Calamity, we will put up a fight that will be honored for centuries."

A bird chanted its familiar tune in the distance. The pale blue that overtook the sky was endless, infinite. It truly was a stunning, gentle-temperature mid-morning, if it weren't for the situation lurking overhead. Zelda regulated her breathing at the resurface of the thought, masking her discomfort behind an untroubled face. The temptation to lead herself down a more comforting string of thoughts grew more and more of a mental strain as her father continued to speak, but she was not about to catch herself distracted among the responsibility of her presence in such critical discussion.

"When the Calamity arrives, and trust that it will surely arrive," Rhoam stated, "It will be a challenge far greater than ones we've overcome before. When Calamity Ganon pursues an attack, it will bring countless waves of evil creatures in its very own image. Battling those malicious beasts will be no different than battling the Calamity itself. And because of that, every battle might not be confronted with ease, but they will be confronted with perseverance and dignity of the highest degree.

"Additionally," the king went on, his voice booming across the open area again, jolting Zelda back to reality after the tale of the prophecy had dug her into a sort of daze as she tried to picture the horrid scene. "Ever since the risk of Calamity became apparent, monsters and other such ghastly creatures have begun to roam the land in much greater numbers. If left unchecked, their kind will spread across this kingdom like vermin. I command you all today to hunt down these creatures, to eliminate them before they can reach these walls. Rid this land of the dangers that dare to poison it.

"Now go on," Rhoam insisted. "Go on and fulfill this duty that I have bestowed upon you this day. Go on and defend this land. Go on and fight for this kingdom in which you know your home."

And then the command was done. In a sharp and swift movement, a hundred sword blades were thrust into the air, catching vibrant glints of the sunlight on the smooth surfaces. A chorus of voices rang in unison, calling in a chant in the relentless determination to stand for the kingdom. A glimmer of approval shone in the shrewd eye of the king as the sound conquered the quietness, a collection of cheer that could have been heard even from miles and miles away.

. . .

Impa

The wooden door breathed a low whine as it fell shut behind Impa while she descended the stone steps to reach the path. A faint chill lingered in the breeze–Though it was a hint warmer than the last time she had entered the doorway nearly half an hour ago, the birds gave their light morning tune as they awoke in the trees, and the base of the sky was painted in pastel colors of pink and lavender. It was quite the early morning for her, and yet she still had an excessively long walk in front of her.

At nineteen years old, Impa was the royal advisor to the princess of Hyrule, the sole reason for her journey this day, and a devoted member of the Sheikah Tribe. The Sheikah Tribe was a community tight-knit in connection and distant in location, spread in clusters in several villages across Hyrule. Impa herself was snugly wrapped in traditional Sheikah tan and black-rimmed garments and the adornment of her hair was fairly common as well, wrapped in a stiff roll atop her head while the rest fell several inches past her back in a thick white sheet. The place she knew as home was a village called Kakariko Village, a particularly popular dwelling a several-hour walk southeast of Hyrule Castle, but she found herself in a different place today. On a mission of retrieval on behalf of Princess Zelda, she was making her departure from an ancient laboratory owned by a pair of technology-fixated allies in a place termed Hateno Village.

The view from the very top of the hill where the laboratory remained was far and admirable. Snow-topped mountains reached immense heights in the distance and the early morning sunlight bathed the reddish roofs of houses in the village below. Impa's fingers grazed the bumpy surface of the item in her hand as she began her descent down the winding path towards the bottom of the hill and she snuck a glance to observe it once more. It was a recent feature of technology developed in the laboratory, one that Impa had only laid eyes on for the first time this morning. It was a pocket-sized and stocky tablet–That was, if one's pocket was at least eight inches deep–By the title mentioned during her meeting in the laboratory a Sheikah Slate, currently one-of-a-kind. It was contained in a sturdy casing of intricately carved designs and held a screen in the front, dark in its momentary lack of use, and a shape etched into the back with the typical Sheikah symbol: An open eye, dripping with a fallen tear. Impa had yet to learn about the workings of this device in her hands, as all the instructions read was for her to bring it to Princess Zelda at the castle for research purposes.

The village was starting to come to life once more as Impa ventured through, lights glowing behind curtains and similarly dressed farmers emerging from the doors to tend to their crops as the people slowly arose for the morning. Shops opened for service and shopkeepers stood outside to beckon wanderers inside. Drowsy children clung to the side of their mothers and fathers as they urged them out of their houses to play while breakfast was being prepared. A few villagers even stopped to greet Impa and ask about her visit, but she couldn't stay for long. Even taking her leave from the village in the early hour wouldn't have resulted in her arrival at the castle until midday at the earliest. Impa tucked the note of the journey's length away into the back of her mind, paused in her departure to duck into a shop and purchase a handful of mushrooms as a short breakfast to tide herself over, and carried on out of the village.

The cracked cobblestone beneath Impa's feet turned to a thin lane of dirt amongst the grass outside of the village, marking a path into a dense assortment of trees surrounding it. The sounds bouncing through the village gradually faded out behind her, submerging her into the pure sounds of chattering birds and the breeze fluttering through the leaves. The sunrise eased into the pale blue sky of morning. It was no longer than forty-five minutes out of the village that Impa's hand grew moist and clammy from clutching the handle of her new device. Come an hour, her stomach was already groaning with hollowness, though she distracted herself by toying with the possibilities in the abilities of the device in her hand that she had yet to learn. It could have been able to reactivate formerly used pieces of technology, or perhaps even relay ancient and lost texts. She would make a point to ask the princess once she joined her later that day.

The hours crawled by, plagued with uneventfulness. Under a cloudless sky, Impa crossed vastly open fields of grass, stone bridges over calm waters, and dirt paths along cliff edges. At a horse stable beside a towering mountain, she sat on the floor in a spacious cloth-covered shelter to catch her breath and gather her thoughts among a short list of present stable visitors. Only a few faces did she witness along her journey, a couple friendly and none of them familiar. It was well after one in the afternoon once Impa caught the first signs that she was drawing near to the castle gates as dirt became a clean arrangement of cobblestone once again, trees were more seldom to guard the path, and a massive stonework wall loomed ahead. It was an entrance Impa knew like the back of her hand. Past the wall, it would be nothing more than a couple-minute hike through the continuous cobblestone path and coinciding stone structures before the official castle gates would be reached.

A sudden, unanticipated blunt blow to the back of her head. A flash of blue sky before her hands found the rocky surface of the cobblestone. Empty hands. The Sheikah Slate was gone. Thoughts fired through Impa's mind in the split second where she snapped back to reality after discovering herself inexplicably knocked down to the ground at her feet. This is it, she panicked. This is where I'm kidnapped and forced to spill the royal family's secrets. No. I was hit with a fallen branch. No, there were no trees.

Impa's head throbbed like a tight band wrapped around it. A bitter taste of bone-deep dread reached her tongue and pooled her stomach as she scrambled over onto her back, a now-unoccupied hand shooting up to block attacks before she even saw the attacker above her. It was no human, eliminating the chance of a strategized kidnapping. Sunlight gleamed behind the figure looking down upon her of a vile-appearing monster, a crimson creature with pairs of scrawny legs and arms, lumpy hands of which clung tightly around the base of a particularly bulky wooden club. Boggling blue eyes darted to examine her on the ground and a scratchy wail escaped from a wide, toothless mouth. A Bokoblin. Not the strongest creature out roaming the fields and not entirely intelligent either, but the club that had just smacked Impa upside the head and knocked her to the ground caused a definite disadvantage.

The Bokoblin was raising the club again, high above its head for momentum. With a jolt of movement, Impa was already scurrying backward, hands flinging across the rocky cobblestone in a hasty attempt to make balance. Instead of a continuous road, her hand latched onto the bumpy texture of the Sheikah Slate, face-down on the stone after being dropped by the first blow. If she grabbed it now and made a break for it, she had a chance of escape. The club sliced through the air with a faint whoosh and Impa lost her grip on the device, dodging the swing with a rush of air shooting past her right ear and a thundering crack as it made impact with the road. The Bokoblin let out an outraged screech at the missed attack and lifted the club to pump it frustratedly into the air, granting Impa the moment she needed to snag the Sheikah Slate and wind up a defensive counterattack from the ground.

"Get away from me, you slobbering beast!" Impa snarled, trying for a sharp kick and landing a hit directly into the creature's exposed belly.

More lacking in balance than it looked from the disadvantaged position, the Bokoblin crumbled to the ground like a caving wall with a muffled thump, a high-pitched yelp, and the clattering of the wooden club as it rolled across the road. Impa didn't waste a second, snatching up the Sheikah Slate from the stone road and clambering to her feet. The creature was distracted, pawing at the ground to make a hasty grab for the club that was rolling away. Impa barely steadied herself before she had broken off into a run in the opposite direction, down along the path that she had been following before she was attacked.

Impa's feet pounded against the ground with every running step. Strangled breaths escaping rapidly from her throat. Hands clenching the tablet as if it was her last line of defense. Her heart hammered against her chest and her thoughts flashed through her troubled mind at record speed. The stonework wall towered over her from a ways before her, growing nearer and nearer with every fleeting second. Provoked by the appearance of the first attack, even more of those revolting creatures had begun to drag their feet through the grass, knobby eyes tracking Impa in her movements, the same scratchy howls leaking from identical toothless mouths, a bulky wooden club in each of their hands. They were not going to stop. If she could at least get through the castle gates, she would be secure.

Past the great arching entrance through the stonework wall, there were several kinds of vile monsters camped out in groups across the grass, numbers significantly more heightened than behind the wall. Something had drawn them out of hiding. An ache dug into Impa's chest from running as she gripped the Sheikah Slate between both hands, but with every thudding step against the cobblestone, she promised herself that the pain was temporary and she wouldn't stop moving until she was through the gates. The castle stood grand and tall enough that it looked to scrape the sky in the distance, the gates of which poised around it decorated in lengthy spikes. Almost there. Almost there.

Halfway down the road, Impa's presence had become realized amongst the bands of creatures. Shrill and raspy howls emerged from around her and the collective sound of multiple scurrying feet over grass became apparent. The knots in Impa's stomach tightened with the rapidly nearing danger as movement flicked through the corners of her eyes. They were chasing her. They were coming. A pause for a split second might have been enough for another heavy whack across the head.

A slab of dark wood sealing the entrance through the gates told Impa that the doors were locked shut. Impa staggered to a stop, her head on a hasty swivel to find something to help her through, and surrendered her focus to a sharp glint of sunlight near the gates. It appeared to have bounced off of the silver armor of one of Princess Zelda's own soldiers, dropped down into a kneel at a tall bush to study either its abundant leaves or something within them.

"I need some help over here!" Impa called out, hastening her steps to reach the soldier's side.

The soldier's head snapped up to look at her with direct addressing before spotting the creatures closely tracking her trail and leaped up to his feet. A pair of spirited and vibrant blue eyes sat beneath pointed dirty-blond eyebrows and a short low ponytail spilled out from the back of the helmet. A flicker of recognition struck Impa in a heartbeat: She knew him. It was Link, the knight working personally under Princess Zelda who stood alongside the soldiers sustaining her safety.

"I thought it was your job to get rid of these things," Impa added, ducking behind Link in reliance on his defense.

A group of four crimson Bokoblins had kept up the pursuit, staggering across the cobblestone towards Impa and Link, savagely rattling their clubs with every clumsy step. Impa's heart was still skipping as Link hurried to unsheathe a thin silver sword and stepped before her to guard her, all without a word. This was usual for him, as Impa had never once caught him speaking a single word aloud. As the creatures continued to lurch in stumble with Link standing at the ready, Impa's ears registered a different sound. A light scuttling around her feet, sounding from an artificial critter or some kind of easy-weighted steel-made machine, and a rhythmic, panicked-sounding beeping seeming to alert the risk that she was already well aware of.

Impa's eyes dropped to the cobblestone to locate the owner of the unusual noises instantly, scampering around her at her ankles to find its way back to Link. It was a mechanical being with much resemblance to a spider, several metal legs scurrying across the stone, all protruding from an egg-shaped head that bore an animated blue orb that could have been identified as an eye. This creature must have been what Link was examining in the bush. Impa opened her mouth, ready to ask what in the world was happening right now, but just as quickly her words were snatched right from her tongue.

A soul-rattling crash struck the air, much like the explosion of a powerful bomb. A shriek escaped from Impa's throat as her hands flew to clamp down over her ears, one still clasped firmly onto the Sheikah Slate, but a rumble shooting through the earth sent her tumbling down onto her back again. Link had managed to keep himself on his feet but was clearly agitated by the change, eyes darting around the place to find the source of the disturbance.

Impa pressed her hands into the cobblestone to ease herself up, her head reeling. The emptiness in her hands once more proved that she had once again lost her grip on the device. The same rumble that had blasted through the ground was only faint to the touch as Impa put her hands down, but the thunderous sound that kept strong implied that whatever had caused it wasn't over. As Impa rose to her feet, she caught sounds suppressed under the weight of the rumbling; the continuous panicked beeping of the mechanical critter brought by Link and the wails of frightened—And, by the burst of collective rushing footsteps, escaping—Bokoblins that had found a threat greater than them.

Disregarding the Sheikah Slate, Impa struggled to steady herself, briskly searching for anything to explain what was happening here—A fire, a larger beast, maybe even soldiers arriving to rescue them. There was nothing of the sort, not that she could point out, but Link's gaze had stilled on the stone path several feet ahead where the Bokoblins had made a break for it.

"What was that?" Impa demanded to know, though it was in vain as Link would have no words for her. "What's happening?"

Link's eyes didn't move an inch from where he stared at the road. He'd noticed something. Impa followed his gaze to determine what had grabbed his attention and didn't need to search the road before the source presented itself. Awestruck and dazed, she could only stare as a crack split through the cobblestone, breaking apart the pavement as the path ruptured. Something was breaking out from underneath the ground. Dirt spilled over from the emerging object like a curtain. A tower. A tower with intricately carved walls that couldn't be climbed and a flat platform reaching higher and higher into the air. A tall shadow crept across the land as the tower rose to its full form, looming over Impa as she stood in utter helplessness.

Right before her stood a far greater mystery than anything else today had ever proposed.